The campaign was started in 2004 by All of Us or None, a group of formerly incarcerated people in the San Francisco Bay Area. According to the National Employment Law Project, 37 states, Washington, DC, and more than 150 cities and counties had adopted ban-the-box or fair chance hiring policies as of 2021. The federal Fair Chance Act applies the rule to federal agencies and contractors and took effect in December 2021.
Employment is one of the strongest supports for successful reentry. Yet a record can shut people out of work years after a sentence ends, and Black job seekers are hurt most.
Research has raised a concern. Some studies found that when the box disappears, certain employers assume Black men have records and call them back less often. Advocates respond that ban the box must be paired with enforcement and record-sealing laws to work as intended.